Anyone want to bring a returning MTBer up to speed?

BigAl

Evening' all

One or even two of you may remember me from a previous forum a good while back

I've returned to riding this year after a hiatus of several years of hardly riding due to work/kids/general apathy. Yeah, blah, blah.

My riding was always XC (I'm really a converted roadie - but the roads are more scary than the trails these days). My riding now could be best described as XC minus the speed! Age, buggered back, lack of fitness and bottle has seen to that.

Anyway getting somewhere near the point - my ride - one of the original Anthems (and lovely it still is IMHO) - is not quite right. I don't need anything with lots of travel - but something a bit more relaxed and comfy would be nice. So that's easy - get a frame and some forks swap the parts and off I go.

But now everything is different! Huge wheels, or medium wheels, bolted wheels, massive head tubes, la la la

Can anyone summarise what's changed in the last 5 years? Where's it headed? Are 26" wheels to become obsolete? Can you fit (straight) 1 & 1/8 forks in tapered head tubes? Funnily enough my Anthem is still as good a bike now as it was when it was bought - it's 'tiny' wheels and weedy head tube seemed fine back then!

Al

The Rookie

BigAl wrote:

Can anyone summarise what's changed in the last 5 years? Where's it headed? Are 26" wheels to become obsolete? Can you fit (straight) 1 & 1/8 forks in tapered head tubes? Funnily enough my Anthem is still as good a bike now as it was when it was bought - it's 'tiny' wheels and weedy head tube seemed fine back then!

Summarising what has changed....
Nothing and everything!

26" won't become obsolete for at least 10 years.....

Straight forks will fit in a tapered frame and tapered forks will fit in some straight frames.

nicklouse

The Rookie wrote:

26" won't become obsolete for at least 10 years.....

sorry never will. way too many 26" bikes out there over the world.

mattbarnes

I wouldn't worry, nothing's changed.

Bike company's are still coming up with 'creative' ways of making you part with your money. Its down to you whether you want to embrace the marketing brainwashing or stick with what you've got. As you said yourself, your Anthem is just as good now as it was when you got it - will having a tapered headtube, bolt through 29er wheels, 30 gears instead of 27 (including a clutch mech of course) etc change your riding that much? Or is it a case of just getting out and enjoying what you've got?

The Rookie

nicklouse wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

26" won't become obsolete for at least 10 years.....

sorry never will. way too many 26" bikes out there over the world.

Never will is not more than 10 years then?

Briggo

The Rookie wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

26" won't become obsolete for at least 10 years.....

sorry never will. way too many 26" bikes out there over the world.

Never will is not more than 10 years then?

You refer to the possibility they will become obsolete, just giving a timeframe to when it won't occur till. Nick is saying it never will so therefore a timeframe is of no importance as it in his opinion will never happen.

The Rookie

True, but never? 1000 years, 1,000,000 years, I picked 10 as being a bike life people would reasonably use, personally I think it will be a lot longer if ever, but saying never....

nferrar

More wheel size 'standards'
More headset 'standards'
More bottom bracket 'standards'
More gears available (10&11sp)
Less gears available (single chain ring up front trend)
Perfect tyre still hasn't materialised

defride

nferrar wrote:

More wheel size 'standards'
More headset 'standards'
More bottom bracket 'standards'
More gears available (10&11sp)
Less gears available (single chain ring up front trend)
Perfect tyre still hasn't materialised

All true, would add Tubeless wheel setups into that mix, very handy here in the Chilterns with farmers hacking the Hawthorn. No real need for more than a hardtail around here, quiet happy with my 26" though I'd look at a quick handling carbon 29er if I were in the market today.

tobamory

If your looking for a new bike, then maybe look at 650b or 27.5 inch wheels the new standard kind of, a lot of speculation on when if how or should you, bu my view is, all bike manufacturers are moving to them, we'll I think all, so you may as we'll invest in the new stuff. 26 will be around for years though and are stiff good, 29er are massive and do roll very well, but I think they look too big.

Tubeless was a good thing, I have to admit what another poster said hawthorns and things into an inner tube and your done, tubeless just gobble them up. If you ever take a tubeless off and check the inside you'd be amazed at how much crap has gone through and in a tube world you'd have got a flat.

I've just bought a full suspension Santa Cruz solo for XC and trail and these two items I got 650b and tubeless as well as some other goodies. I'd been away from the scene for over 6 years where my last bike was a orange 5 pro, as I'm old mid 40s I needed a nice comfy ride and something where I'm not stooped over the bars like some XC do. This Santa Cruz although pricey was amazing to rode! as good as the 5 if not better, but as always my arse kills LOL nothing new there.

Another thing that surprised me Al was lapierre bike some have the intelligent shock at the rear, it used accelerometers etc like an iPhone to know when you going uphill thus it locks out the rear or stiffenes it up to make peddling Easier, maybe a gimmick but it impressed me.

Good luck in your search

Rob (leeds)

97th choice

BigAl wrote:

Can anyone summarise what's changed in the last 5 years?

Al

Travel, you need 150-160mm to just look at a blue run nowadays.

The Rookie

Or a rigid, preferably a 29er single speed, or a fat bike....in fact anything but a 26" 100-120mm hardtail!

BigAl

Lol

Clearly I'm riding the wrong bike. Strangely, I'm just as fast (or slow!) on it now as when it was the right bike.

Fashion or progress? Discuss

(tongue firmly in cheek)

BigAl

Btw - I don't even know what a 'fat' bike is :oops:

97th choice

Go look at a 2014 anthem 650b and see how many similarities there are with yours, you might be pleasantly surprised.

neiltb

97th choice wrote:

BigAl wrote:

Can anyone summarise what's changed in the last 5 years?

Al

Travel, you need 150-160mm to just look at a blue run nowadays.

That perception is so true, I took my RM element (120mm) to blue mountain outside Toronto last week and got looked at funny when I said I'd be taking it down the hill (was asked if I would not prefer to rent one of their DH rigs). The blue trails are within my ability (miles inside the bikes) and not as long or tough as Glentress, you could ride them on a hardtail.

Still loads of people had bought specialist bikes for these trails, madness.

The Rookie

BigAl wrote:

Btw - I don't even know what a 'fat' bike is :oops:

http://www.jonesbikes.com/ black bike in banner photo uses a fat front, you can get them like that or a full fatty with wide rear!

You could make the Anthem more relaxed by playing with the components or get a more relaxed 26er frame and bolt the bits in.....

Escher303

Timely post BigAl. I've got very similar questions, although my knowledge is a lot more out of date than yours. Hope you don't mind an on-topic hijack.

First MTB was Clockwork Orange '93, then Orange E8 WC 10 years ago - had an accident and didn't ride it again until last year, although I ride a lot on the road so I'm pretty fit.

Always did XC mainly but lived down south, now I live in the South Lakes and have been along to Gisburn, Grizedale and Whinlatter recently to sample the red trails. Had an total blast and absolutely loved it and I really want to improve, go faster and take on the natural trails in Cumbria.

So am I succumbing to marketing hype thinking that I 'need' to buy a full-sus trail bike? My short travel hardtail made it round all the red trails but is it really so much more fun on something with more travel? Certainly plenty of people were going a lot faster than me downhill but I overtook them again going up! :-)

The Rookie

Fun is personal, slower on a hardtail may or may not be more fun for you, know what you mean about all thos fancy dan FSers though, rolling roadblocks going uphill most the time!

jairaj

yep its a personal thing. Some people prefer to do it with short travel or hardtail. You go slower but the technical challenge is greater. Some prefer to do it on a long travel full suss and get their kicks from the extra speed they can take the obstacles at.

Many debates and arguments over which is correct but the truth is that both are correct. Pick the the one that gives YOU the biggest enjoyment.

BigAl

'the Rookie' is dead right - fun is, of course, completely personal. A lot of the enjoyment I get from riding is simply being out in the countryside usually on my own, but sometimes with the kids. It's a 'get away from it all' experierence and doesn't depend on burning up the trails at silly speeds

As for a full-susser, well that's up to you. I don't know the South Lakes but by the sound of the riding you do, you don't NEED one. But that doesn't mean you can't have one! I'm quicker on my Anthem (than on my HT) but it doesn't make me a race champion. Likewise it doesn't make me super fast downhill - that's limited by my skills and, most of all, (lack of) bottle. BUT, as a middle aged fellah, I do feel much less beaten about after riding the Anthem. My hardtail does seem to bring on my back trouble.

If I could have only one bike it'd be a short-travel FS. A steel HT with 100/120mm up front would be my second choice

Maro

Totally agree.

I have just got back into it too, after a gap of about 10 years. I still have my custom built DMR trailstar becouse it's worth far more to me as a 2nd bike to use for fun than it is in £££££.

I have recently bought a 120mm travel full susser, the downs are about the same level of fun for me on both bikes, dunno which is quicker. But the ups are so much easier and eventually less painfull, specially through the woods, on the newer, lighter, full bouncer, partly cos I no longer have to stand up to pedal over ruts and roots and partly cos it has more gears.

I expected to beat my old time of about 46mins round the blue trail at FOD by about 5 minutes or so with the new bike, I did it in 27, I could hardly believe it, and my boss still doesnt.

kajjal

Escher303 wrote:

Timely post BigAl. I've got very similar questions, although my knowledge is a lot more out of date than yours. Hope you don't mind an on-topic hijack.

First MTB was Clockwork Orange '93, then Orange E8 WC 10 years ago - had an accident and didn't ride it again until last year, although I ride a lot on the road so I'm pretty fit.

Always did XC mainly but lived down south, now I live in the South Lakes and have been along to Gisburn, Grizedale and Whinlatter recently to sample the red trails. Had an total blast and absolutely loved it and I really want to improve, go faster and take on the natural trails in Cumbria.

So am I succumbing to marketing hype thinking that I 'need' to buy a full-sus trail bike? My short travel hardtail made it round all the red trails but is it really so much more fun on something with more travel? Certainly plenty of people were going a lot faster than me downhill but I overtook them again going up! :-)

Similar to me, my first real MTB bike was an Orange C16R back in 1996. I replaced it this year with a Specialized Carve Comp hardtail which for me is great to ride everywhere I have been so far. I have never got on with full suspension preferring hard tails so you can feel the trail more.

TheJohnClimber

BigAl wrote:

Btw - I don't even know what a 'fat' bike is :oops:

Shakes Head icon :roll:

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